Roger Ebert on "An Inconvenient Truth": "In 39 years, I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are: You owe it to yourself to see this film. If you do not, and you have grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided not to."

Can people who have lived or will be living in the Lawyer's Club please report what your experiences and/or impressions of the LC environment have been? Is it a plus or negative to be surrounded by fellow law students all the time? Is it loud? Is the common bath set-up difficult to adjust to? What % of 1Ls who live there decide to return for their 2L year?

I'm trying to decide whether it's worth it to live in a double suite, assuming that I even get assigned to one (Michigan still hasn't sent me a lease, as I surprisingly wasn't among the first batch of people to whom leases were sent). The alternative would be off-campus housing, and I've thus far found two very appealing options. However, I'm worried that I'd miss out on what could be a wonderful experience living in the LC. LC life would certainly make it a lot easier to make friends, and being surrounded by classmates would probably enhance my understanding of courses.

I could have sworn that I read something about a year ago that suggested that joining partypoker, Poker Stars, or any online gambling site is against the law, but my friend assures me that it's perfectly legal. Can someone please give me a definitive answer?

I'm embarrassed to admit this, considering that I've already sent my deposit to Michigan, but I don't have a clear idea of what sets Michigan's LRAP apart from the LRAPs of the rest of the T14. Everything that I've read and heard suggests that Michigan's LRAP is both the most generous and most "progressive" of any such program in the country. Having not closely examined other LRAPs, I'd very much like to know what factors give Michigan that distinction.

I completed all of my forms for GULC eons ago, and I haven't heard even a peep about the aid package I'll be getting. Just curious if any of the GULC acceptees out there have received notice of their financial awards?

I sent Boalt an email last night expressing my intent to remove myself from their applicant pool (a withdrawal--I literally wrote nothing else except a one-line thanks for your consideration of my app. note), and I received the following terse email earlier today:

"Decisions have already been made and are being mailed out this week."

Ever since the very beginning of the law school application process, Michigan has been my dream school. Now that the dream has the potential to become real, however, I realize that I may not be able to afford it. Despite the fact that my parents combined income fits us solidly into middle class territory and that I stipulated on the Need Access form that my parents won't be contributing anything to my law school expenses, I was offered a package of nothing but the standard federal loans. According to Michigan's web site, "in the 2005 entering class, 80 percent of students received some form of grant, in an average amount of $8,600. 51 percent of first-year students received grants based on financial need; 36 percent received grants based on academic merit; 7 percent received a combination."

Given this information, I find it hard to believe that my situation wouldn't qualify me for need-based grant aid. What should I do? The fin. aid email says that Michigan would be happy to re-evaluate my fin. aid application in light of special circumstances, but that the process wouldn't begin until mid-September. I LOVE Michigan, but I'm not sure I'll be able to go there without any need-based help.

Any advice or input you can offer as to what I can do to receive a grant prior to enrolling would be very, very much appreciated...

LSN analysis indicates that Michigan seems to follow a rather strange, definitively not rolling "complete" policy. Should I attribute any significance to the fact that many applicants who submitted their applications after I did went complete at least a week earlier than I did? In several cases, people who applied two+ weeks after me went complete over a week earlier, and many of these people were admitted. Judging from such data, I would guess that Michigan has a quick "initial review" after receiving all of an individual's application materials and that this review could lead to either a very quick acceptance or another round of scrutiny (maybe that's typical--I don't know?) Not to stress, but I can't help it--I find myself reading profiles of accepted applicants repeatedly and constantly looking for trends in LSN data. Michigan is my clear #1 and the data seems to indicate that I've already been passed over once. Even though a lot of people with #s similar to mine (167/3.9, with a high LSAT of 169) have been admitted already, I'm getting worried that Michigan has given too many of those borderline acceptances away to people who applied earlier than I did. Still, it's somewhat comforting that no one who went complete after me has received a decision yet. Anyways, just wanted to post not only to think aloud to people who can be sympathetic to my plight of LSN obsession, but also to see if anyone has observed similar or any other patterns with Michigan decisions? (also interesting is the fact that Michigan seems to send every kind of decision every week instead of sending waves of acceptances, waitlists, rejections, deferalls in huge batches)

Warning: extraordinarily detail-laden question: With a T14 degree, how difficult is it to obtain a job at a medium-sized firm that'll expect somewhere between 40 and 55 hours/week of work and offer a salary between 85 and 110K as a first year associate?